Easy-pull wool protector



June 14, 1960 E. WINDISCH EASY-PULL wooL PROTECTOR Filed May 29, 1957 E RNE ST WIND/80H INVENTOR. 31 W ATTORNEY mindsets Pets- EASY-PULL WOOL PROTECTOR Ernest Windisch, 1'576 Desmarchais 'Blvd., Montreal, p Quebec, Canada Filed May 29, 1957, Ser. No. $62,355 3 Ciaims. (Cl. 242-446) This invention relates to a protective device, designed to enclose a skein or ball of knitting wool, while one is knitting a garment or other article.

During the knitting of an article, the ball of wool generally is permitted to lie loosely in a knitting basket or similar container, or alternatively, may be left to rest in ones lap, on a chair, or on the floor.

This has certain disadvantages, since the ball tends to turn each time a portion of the wool is pulled upwardly. This causes the ball to move about, often resulting in its becoming entangled with adjacent objects, becoming dusty, dirty, etc.

The main object of the present invention, in view the above, is to provide an enclosure for a ball of wool, so designed that the wool will be conveniently kept in place, will stay clean, and will be properly engaged against slippage from its assigned position.

Another object is to so design the enclosure that it will fully protect the ball of wool regardless of the size of said ball.

Another object is to provide a protector as described that will be capable of manufacture at a cost sufliciently low to make the same commercially feasible, while at the same time producing a device that will be simple, useful, and wholly eflicient in operation.

A further object is to provide a protector for wool that will include a guide ring assembly so designed as to insure that the strand of wool emanating from the ball will not be restricted or hampered in any way during its free movement from the ball to the knitting needles.

Another object is to provide a protector as described in which the guide means will be associated with a flexible container for the ball of wool, in such a manner that the rigidly constituted, sectionally formed guide means will be swifty assembled with the flexible container for the ball of wool.

Another object is to provide, in a device of the character stated, a guide means for the strand of wool which can be associated with a flexible, transparent container of any size, thus to permit a single guide means to be used interchangeably with containers of various sizes, thereby further reducing the cost and increasing the versatility of the device.

These together with other objects and advantages which will subsequently become apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter K'icc scale as Figure 2, taken substantially on'line 3 -"of Fig ure 2; and

Figure is an exploded perspective view 'o f jthe guide means.

Referring to the drawingsf in detail, designated at 101s a flexiblefprotective container which in the illustrated example is'a transparent bag of "thin plastic material.

. -",In any event," the bag or sack 1 0is" associated with a guide means that includes a-flat; relatively thing-plastic disc 12 having a"center opening 14*bounde'd bya thicb ened lip or flange of the disc or plate 12; Loosely-mov'- able through the opening 14 is a strand 16 extending from the ball of wool 18. The strand and the ball, of

course, do not constitute a part of the present invention.

' At its outer periphery, the plate 12 is circularly shaped in the illustrated example, and is integrally'formed with a thickened peripheral lip 18. Lip 18 is engageable with a clamping ring 20, said clamping ring having an inwardly facing clamping groove 22 receiving the lip, the clamping ring at its underside having an inwardly directed flange 24 that projects radially inwardly of the plate 12 so as to terminate at its inner edge inwardly from the lip 18, as best shown in Figure 2.

The construction is such that the plate 12 may be slightly deformed, so as to force the same into the undercut clamping groove 22. As a result, when the device is in use, the ball of wool is first placed in the container 10. Then the mouth portion of the container is gathered and is extended through the clamping ring '20. Then, with the strand 16 extended through the opening 14, the plate 12 is shifted downwardly and snapped into the clamping ring 20, said plate 12 moving downwardly with in the gathered mouth of the container. As a result, the portion of the container between the periphery of plate 12 and ring 20 is deformed as shown in Figure 2 so as to be tightly clamped between the ring and. the plate. The plate is thus held in the desired position, as is the ring, and the plate thus extends across the container as a closure therefor.

The device is now ready for use, and it will be seen that the ball of wool will be fully protected, despite the fact that the strand 16 can be pulled outwardly freely, and with no more difficulty than is experienced when the ball is left free and unprotected. Further, the closure can be moved downwardly along the length of the container to any location desired, according to the size of the ball, and still further, the closure is swiftly disengaged from the sack or container 10 when the ball of wool is completely exhausted.

In this way, the wool is fully protected, and only so much wool as is desired at the particular moment need be pulled out of the sack, as distinguished from the ordi nary arrangement in which the ball may tend to roll across the floor, causing an excessive amount of wool to be unwound therefrom. At the same time, there is no catching or tangling of the wool, and the wool is kept completely clean, thereby making a highly desirable knitting accessory.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A protector for a ball of wool from which a strand 2,940,686" Petntan 19 .0.

a'thin' closure Plate extending across said mouth rt1Q n I and. having a cen er penin 9 rcuelfr m ally b fed by 'a' thickened li'p having "a sdh'stantially circular GLOSS} ection r du in fricti n n he. strand passing there- 52m andffer. eiivinesam steed h reth iifiEmjSaid plate being resinenny deformable cut jcfalnbifniallyl pla'nifbm'eon t n; a da aliiping ring a n ardly andl -unwazd y ing 'en q ev' a db amp n ng recen ing the mouth portion cf the container there through with .7

dispositiqn off the material of the. mouth portion between ampinsns and he per phe y n l-sa dn a -said p twmmi y det rmahle to snag into thev 2. A protector as in claim 1 wherein said groove is finderc'iit, the "plate Bein thickened at its periphery" f6 engage in the undercut groove;

3. A protector as in claim 2 wherein said clamping ring has an inwardly directed, circumferential flange at its underside projecting inwardly from the periphery of the closure plate.

References Cited in the'fileidf this. patent UNITED. STATES PATENTS r 1,692,969 Van vdfilhis flh 'Nov. 27, 1928 I fimQuq -a-qm- -1-' Oct 7, V FOREIGN PA: ms 752,077 France July 10, 1933 189,126 Switzerland May 1, 1937 

